Lazarus like Marseille look to confirm revival with trophy
MARSEILLE, France (AFP) - Marseille may not amazingly have won a major trophy for 15 years but many see their finishing second in last season and #39;s title race as a sign that the club and #39;s troubled past is well behind it and a much brighter future awaits it.
Having put the embarrassment of a financial scandal and imposed relegation behind them Marseille will enter the 2007-2008 season having also booked their return to the UEFA Champions League.
Marseille are the most decorated club in French footballing history and are the only French team to have won Europe and #39;s top club competition, in 1993, which capped off a dominant run of five consecutive league one titles in the early 1990 and #39;s.
However, financial irregularities and a match fixing scandal in 1994, during Bernard Tapie and #39;s reign as President, saw the southern French outfit punished with relegation to the second division, where they stayed for two years, and stripped of their 1993 domestic league crown.
Since rejoining the French top flight in 1996 L and #39;OM have struggled to recapture the glory days of Jean-Pierre Papin, Chris Waddle and Basile Boli and have slipped up on the four occasions they have got to within 90 minutes of securing a major trophy - the UEFA Cup final in 1999 and 2004 and the French Cup final the last two seasons.
Marseille managed to find some consistency in recent years and under the guidance of former Marseille player Albert Emon last season the side were championship runners up, their best result in the domestic league since 1998/1999.
The Marseille faithful will take comfort in Emon and #39;s June decision to extend his contract for a further year until 2009.
At Emon and #39;s disposal this term is a mixture of youth, experience and an injection of fresh blood to help Marseille in their bid to dethrone champions Lyon and mount a serious European campaign.
Marseille will count on their French young player of the year Samir Nasri and battle-hardened summer signings such as Djibril Cisse and Dutch winger Boudewijn Zenden, who joined from Liverpool, after the departure of inspirational France midfielder Franck Ribery to German outfit Bayern Munich.
France international striker Cisse, who spent last season on loan at Marseille, cemented his move from Liverpool on a five year contract and is confident he will make his mark in the French Championship.
"It will be Djibril Cisse and #39;s year. Last year I joined the group halfway through their campaign and I know that I disrupted the balance of the team slightly," he said at the beginning of June.
"I have set a personal target this season of scoring at least 20 goals in the League."
Following the summer departure of Ribery to Bayern, Emon made a string of summer signings to beef up the midfield notably with Algerian international Karim Ziani and Frenchman Benoit Cheyrou, both of whom joined from Auxerre.
Marseille open their 2007-2008 title challenge on Saturday away at newly-promoted Strasbourg.
taken from soccernews.com
Having put the embarrassment of a financial scandal and imposed relegation behind them Marseille will enter the 2007-2008 season having also booked their return to the UEFA Champions League.
Marseille are the most decorated club in French footballing history and are the only French team to have won Europe and #39;s top club competition, in 1993, which capped off a dominant run of five consecutive league one titles in the early 1990 and #39;s.
However, financial irregularities and a match fixing scandal in 1994, during Bernard Tapie and #39;s reign as President, saw the southern French outfit punished with relegation to the second division, where they stayed for two years, and stripped of their 1993 domestic league crown.
Since rejoining the French top flight in 1996 L and #39;OM have struggled to recapture the glory days of Jean-Pierre Papin, Chris Waddle and Basile Boli and have slipped up on the four occasions they have got to within 90 minutes of securing a major trophy - the UEFA Cup final in 1999 and 2004 and the French Cup final the last two seasons.
Marseille managed to find some consistency in recent years and under the guidance of former Marseille player Albert Emon last season the side were championship runners up, their best result in the domestic league since 1998/1999.
The Marseille faithful will take comfort in Emon and #39;s June decision to extend his contract for a further year until 2009.
At Emon and #39;s disposal this term is a mixture of youth, experience and an injection of fresh blood to help Marseille in their bid to dethrone champions Lyon and mount a serious European campaign.
Marseille will count on their French young player of the year Samir Nasri and battle-hardened summer signings such as Djibril Cisse and Dutch winger Boudewijn Zenden, who joined from Liverpool, after the departure of inspirational France midfielder Franck Ribery to German outfit Bayern Munich.
France international striker Cisse, who spent last season on loan at Marseille, cemented his move from Liverpool on a five year contract and is confident he will make his mark in the French Championship.
"It will be Djibril Cisse and #39;s year. Last year I joined the group halfway through their campaign and I know that I disrupted the balance of the team slightly," he said at the beginning of June.
"I have set a personal target this season of scoring at least 20 goals in the League."
Following the summer departure of Ribery to Bayern, Emon made a string of summer signings to beef up the midfield notably with Algerian international Karim Ziani and Frenchman Benoit Cheyrou, both of whom joined from Auxerre.
Marseille open their 2007-2008 title challenge on Saturday away at newly-promoted Strasbourg.
taken from soccernews.com
posted by Soccers Mania at
8:07 AM
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